The Metropolis Series #2: Quinn Beyond Bounds
25. Sentences

VIV RUSHED FOR Mackenzie’s keyboard, typing in a few commands that restored the ropes around Derek’s body. Additionally, she gagged his mouth, but even that didn’t keep him quiet. I might have no longer heard his accusations, but he grew more agitated as nothing but muffled screams escaped his mouth.

Viv retracted from the keyboard, her frozen hands steering clear from the device. By watching both her and Mackenzie use it, I understood that tortures were initiated through commands. What kind of nightmarish program language could be used to get accused individuals to admit to their crimes? Upon closer inspection, I realized that the words on the monitor weren’t commands; in fact, they were paragraphs. They talked about ropes going round and round, tighter and tighter around the culprit.

The ropes fall loose, only to be wrapped around again. The boy’s mouth is now gagged shut.

They tortured people with… prose?

“Viv,” I then said, almost unable to speak. “What is this?”

She sat still on Mackenzie’s chair, a foreboding look on her face. “Mackenzie found it in a junkyard near the Metropolis. She brought it back here, happy that it still worked. It was a luxury many of us had back when we were characters, so a lot of us were excited. We couldn’t believe it; it was an actual computer!” Her face then lit up, a smile forming on her lips. “We don’t have internet, but we can play video games. It was great!”

At that moment, she reminded me of the Viv I had seen in my visions, all springy and giddy and happy.

“However,” she then said. The smile had disappeared, making her look more serious and grown-up. “Mackenzie soon noticed that whatever she wrote on the computer… came to life…”

I stepped back, absorbing everything Viv had just said. “So we have a magical house… and a computer?”

“Actually…” she minimized Derek’s torture document and showed me another one. It said:

The Spanish House is a magical mansion that can rebuild itself brick by brick, withstanding any damage inflicted unto it. It will keep us safe forever.

“Well,” I said. “That’s pretty straightforward.”

“It has to be,” Viv said. “It’ll be easier to process that way.”

“I see…” I then stroked my chin. “But what makes this computer different? Why does it have these powers?”

Viv leaned on Mackenzie’s chair, stumped. “No one can say for sure, but we have our speculations…”

“Like what?”

“This computer…” She took a deep breath. “Belonged to the Author…”

At that, I felt my throat constrict. If this computer really belonged to the Author, I would be so close to replaceing him. I never gave up on that goal, and I didn’t think I ever will. I didn’t know how I’d attain it, though, but maybe my strange supernatural powers would get the Author’s attention, and then, he’d have to confront me about my abnormality. Then I’d get to talk to him.

Or, he would use his almighty powers to stop Cassandra. That would work, too.

“Th—the Author, huh?” I stammered.

Viv nodded. “But it’s all just a speculation. We could be wrong, but… I couldn’t help but be convinced. That was why Mackenzie had this machine all locked up. She built this room with the computer itself, writing down everything from the last detail.”

I looked around, gawking at the piles of junk that surrounded us. “Looks like she developed a hoarding problem in the process.”

“Our living conditions give us all sorts of problems,” Viv said. “But that’s beside the point. If this computer were to fall into the wrong hands, who knows what kind of chaos it would stir…”

I didn’t want to imagine that; we already had as much chaos as it was. Cassandra was on the loose, the front lines were at war, and we had Derek tied up, accusing me of things I didn’t do. He continued to squirm and shriek, fighting against the gag on his mouth. However, a stinging sensation began to grow at the back of my mind, forming a haunting question that needed to be asked.

“Viv…” I began. “Can this very computer be used to be written back into the Metropolis?”

Viv’s expression hardened. “Personally, we’re afraid of trying that,” she said. “Even if we were to write ourselves back, we’re still not the Author. We’d be going against his wishes.”

“Will that corrupt you? Turn you into monsters?”

“Or we could be erased from this timeline forever…”

Any mention of certain oblivion always seemed to make a room silent. Viv sat still in Mackenzie’s desk chair, her fingers hovering over the keyboard.

Then I thought, “Hold on, don’t computers usually have personal files? Maybe we can actually—”

“Tried that,” Viv said morosely. “As much as we want to know who the Author is, we couldn’t replace anything.”

At that, a melodic jingle played from outside the room. I hurriedly slipped on the beanie, shoving my long, brown locks into it. The metal door opened, and Mackenzie marched in with Julio, Tamara, and Takahiro, who was grumbling complaints about having to wake up early.

All of them looked foreboding in their own way. These kids had seen all kinds of horrors that had smeared the innocence out of their eyes, but the fact that they were all in their sleepwear made it feel like they were about to initiate a dark slumber party.

The activities began with basking at the display of Derek tied up and gagged.

“Let’s get this over with,” Julio demanded. “Mackenzie, do your thing. Take that gag off him.”

At this, Viv gingerly stood from the desk chair as Mackenzie took her rightful place on the computer. The former backed up into the corner of the room, seemingly afraid to intervene with the blonde girl’s duties. Mackenzie, in turn, typed something up to remove the gags from Derek’s mouth.

“So, tell us,” Julio began, leaning against the glass that separated us from the boys. “What happened? How did you end up in the woods?”

Derek only gawked at him. “I—I know you…” he said. “You’re the guy from the festival… You ordered from our burger stand!”

Julio groaned. “That’s beside the point. What happened?”

Tensions began to grow. All eyes were glued to Derek, waiting for an explanation that only a selected few would believe.

“It was dismissal time,” Derek began, “and I went to the arcade with a bunch of other guys from school.”

“Who were those other guys?” Mackenzie snapped.

“Mackenzie, please…” Julio gestured toward her, rendering her silent—much to her dismay. He then turned his attention to the boy. “Continue,” he told him.

Derek looked too shocked to speak now. “Eventually,” he managed to say. “I got separated from the group. I went for the vending machines at the far end of the arcade, and that was when I found our classmate, Quinn…”

Julio let out a faint gasp as Derek shot his eyes at me.

“And she’s right over there!” the latter declared.

And then everyone turned their heads toward me.

So far, the only people in this room who had known my true identity as Cassandra’s replacement were Julio, Takahiro, and Viv. As for Tamara and Mackenzie, they all looked at me like I was a newly added threat to their game. Mackenzie glared while Tamara slightly began wheezing.

Julio was the first to redirect his attention to Derek. “What did she look like?” he asked.

Derek looked too nervous to answer the question. He sat there for a while, sweat streaming down his forehead. Eventually, he spoke.

“She wore a pink sweater.”

I looked down at my outfit. Pink sweater? Check! Everyone’s eyes on me? Double check!

Why didn’t Cassandra wear black like she usually did?

“What else?” Mackenzie urged.

Derek was breathing heavily now as they relayed Cassandra’s physical features one by one.

“Dark eyes…” he began. “Long, brown hair… Glasses… Small… stature…”

A sense of anger and apprehension surrounded me. Cassandra and I were similar in appearance, and I didn’t know how quickly all these new faces could be persuaded to believe who I was—not Cassandra, but her replacement. I knew that it wouldn’t make sense to a lot of them; a replacement should have erased Cassandra from this world, but for some reason, she was still around.

Besides, she had done too much physical and emotional damage to be accepted with open arms.

Mackenzie shot her attention straight at me. Her eyes began to resemble that of a raging ocean as her irises flickered in the room’s blue haze. Mackenzie reached for something under the computer desk, and the next thing I knew, an arrow was pointed straight at me.

“Take off the beanie…” she told me.

My heart raced. I stood there, paralyzed.

“Take it off now!” she then ordered.

What should I do? If I revealed myself, would Mackenzie put that arrow down? I doubted it, but at that moment, I didn’t seem to have a choice.

I took a deep breath and winced as I touched the brim of the beanie, praying that I would open my eyes to another timeline.

Instead, I found Julio in front of me, stepping in the way of Mackenzie’s arrow.